INSANE video: 150 car pileup in Michigan snowstorm with cars/18 wheelers crashing

[Anubis]

Damn that's nuts. Yeah first video ive seen where the filmer realizes, hey maybe i should help instead of filming

kinda hard to help when you could be killed by another random car any second

i don't understand this, visibility didn't seem THAT bad
it seems no one realized things in front of them wernt moving until they hit them

and yes snow can just HAPPEN that fast, on my drive home it was dry and sunny and then a blizzard, you could see it like a wall in front of you. there was no gradual buildup

and then it ended exactly the same way 5 miles later

 

[Exterous]

Lots of armchair drivers here who are clearly perfect drivers who always drive the correct speed for whatever situation is occurring in front of them even if they don't know what that situation is and regardless of how rare that situation is.

It also seems like some people also have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to driving in the snow. You can be driving along just fine at a safe speed for the current conditions when, in the span of a couple of seconds, the conditions change that cut that safe speed in half or by two thirds. Wind is a big cause of this particularly in western michigan as are county plowing lines (Oh I must have crossed a county line so this clear, salted highway is no longer salted and is suddenly icy)

 

[JulesMaximus]

You have the IQ of a bug. Obviously, none of them could see, and none of them could brake, that's why all of them piled into the wreck. The first one, the last one, and every one in between, all had the same conditions to deal with. And if you were on that highway that day, then exactly the same thing would have happened to you. Exactly the same thing.

Visibility looked okay. I think it was more a factor of they're driving along safely with grip and suddenly they had none.

 

[mikeymikec]

nvm

 

[clamum]

Yesterday was not a good day to be driving in Michigan. There was another, though much smaller, pileup south of Ann Arbor on 23. Ended up closing that freeway down for awhile too.

I've driven that stretch of highway on 94 near Kalamazoo lots of times, and it always seems bad around there. Thankfully I have never been involved in anything as bad as that, but I have seen plenty of accidents.

I live in Ann Arbor but I work like 25-30 miles north/north-east of the city so I missed that pile up but I had to drive at a crawling speed to work because of accidents. The pile ups don't surprise me at all; commuting every day I get a first-hand view of how terrible the average driver is.

 

[skyking]

jules I don't think they ever had good grip, they were grossly overestimating it. I have a couple of long stories to tell but not here.
Bottom line, I was in two multi car pileups in slick conditions on I-90. Both times my wife and I avoided metal to metal because we driving more slowly in the right lane and had control to get the heck out of the way. We have never been rear ended or caused a wreck by doing so.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

and yes snow can just HAPPEN that fast, on my drive home it was dry and sunny and then a blizzard, you could see it like a wall in front of you. there was no gradual buildup

and then it ended exactly the same way 5 miles later

Here's an idea that's so crazy it just might work: If you see a wall of snow in front of you where visibility is low and road conditions possibly bad then don't plunge into it doing 70mph.

 

[JulesMaximus]

jules I don't think they ever had good grip, they were grossly overestimating it. I have a couple of long stories to tell but not here.
Bottom line, I was in two multi car pileups in slick conditions on I-90. Both times my wife and I avoided metal to metal because we driving more slowly in the right lane and had control to get the heck out of the way. We have never been rear ended or caused a wreck by doing so.

They probably did have some grip a 1/4 mile back. I've driven in snow like this on the thruway between Rochester, NY and Buffalo, NY. You can safely drive along at 30-35mph on snow packed roads as long as it isn't icy with reasonable amounts of traction and grip but once you hit ice you're fucked and you are just along for the ride at that point.

Some of them were definitely going too fast but you can see for a good distance in the video, far enough that they should have been able to stop but very few were able to stop, even the truck drivers who are typically pretty good drivers.

 

[Ichinisan]

I think they're full of crap saying it's 150 cars.

Do you really think that recording was supposed to show the entire pileup?

 

[Spydermag68]

I have driven in white out conditions before. The first time I was going back to college in Laramie Wyoming. The snow was so bad I could only see a bright orange square on the back of a truck. It took three hours to get there from just north of Fort Collins to the port of entry just south of Laramie. The highway patrol flagged me down and asked why I was driving on a closed highway. When I told him that I was on the road for since 2PM he let me through. It was driving a VW rabbit at the time.

The second time was going back home from Colorado Springs to Denver in 2006. I was headed home at 11AM when the highway patrol closed I-25 at North Academy Blvd. I saw a sign that pointed to I-83. I took it all the way back to Denver. I got there about 5PM. This time I was in 4-wheel drive car.

 

[MistaFreeze]

Do you really think that recording was supposed to show the entire pileup?

Nope, but just about anything on the news is blown out of proportion.

 

[DrPizza]

They probably did have some grip a 1/4 mile back. I've driven in snow like this on the thruway between Rochester, NY and Buffalo, NY. You can safely drive along at 30-35mph on snow packed roads as long as it isn't icy with reasonable amounts of traction and grip but once you hit ice you're fucked and you are just along for the ride at that point.

Some of them were definitely going too fast but you can see for a good distance in the video, far enough that they should have been able to stop but very few were able to stop, even the truck drivers who are typically pretty good drivers.

That's the thing I think a lot of posters don't understand - most people aren't in snowbelt country. Thus they don't realize that you can go from blue skies to whiteout and 3" of snow on the ground in a matter of 1/4 mile.

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, and the guy who was killed was out of his vehicle. If you know you're going to be in a pile-up, try to ditch your car off the road.

 

[Markbnj]

Oh, and the guy who was killed was out of his vehicle. If you know you're going to be in a pile-up, try to ditch your car off the road.

That's why there isn't much bystanders can do to help until its over. Anyone who walked out on that road was just playing Russian Roulette.

 

[DAGTA]

Must have been imported Atlanta-ice on that road.

 

[96Firebird]

Snow bands can cause whiteouts in an instance, but it looks like some of the drivers were still going too fast for the conditions. I don't recall getting pileups like that where I live, but we have pretty good road crews for when the weather gets bad.

 

[CZroe]

Must have been imported Atlanta-ice on that road.

Were they also stuck 18+ hours?!

 

[MongGrel]

I've seen pretty similar things in Florida driving on I-4 one time, just when rain came in waves now and then and people were trying to drive 60+ MPH in it.

Happened about three different areas that day cars were piled up, the rain was almost in squalls, it would hit fast and wipe out visibility.

I had kicked my speed way down after the first one, saw people passing me going like a bat out of hell, then saw the in wrecks farther down the road.

Even pulled clear off the road at one point and parked off the highway waiting on it to pass by at one point it was that bad.

Looked more like the rigs were probably doing maybe 50 to me, can't say I guess but still 40 would have been too fast. Everyone else following their lead, but way too much speed period on ice, they are driving way too fast on it in low visibility.

 

[skyking]

That's why there isn't much bystanders can do to help until its over. Anyone who walked out on that road was just playing Russian Roulette.

In one of our multi-car incidents, we witnessed a young lady get hit outside of her car no more than 30' in front of us. I said to my wife, "she is going to get hit" and it happened within seconds
I got out, because that is what I do, and covered her with a blanket and assessed her. The patrol officer there told me to get back in, but I was preparing to lift her over the guardrail if needed. he said he had it covered and then this brave officer with clip on golf cleats ran up the slope of the road and signaled for us to "go go go!" We went.

 

[KeithP]

You realise that is probably how the pile-up occurred, don't you?

Long straight road, poor visibility. Cars are probably driving at a distance so that they can see the car in front, but they're keeping their distance. However, the speed is still too high, so when something happens to the vehicle in front, they all plow into each other.

It really is as simple as that.

No it really isn't that simple. Having a large difference in speed between vehicles is often the cause of an accident. This has been known for awhile. Even in perfect weather conditions, I car going half the speed of other vehicles on the same road is a danger.

As a driver you have to be aware of everything around you while driving. That includes weather and other drivers, it really is that simple.

-KeithP

 

[skyking]

^ what he said. If I see a lone crawler in good conditions I get around them. In bad conditions, I start to slow to remove that speed difference. This works out more often than not

 

[OverVolt]

Lots of armchair drivers here who are clearly perfect drivers who always drive the correct speed for whatever situation is occurring in front of them even if they don't know what that situation is and regardless of how rare that situation is.

It also seems like some people also have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to driving in the snow. You can be driving along just fine at a safe speed for the current conditions when, in the span of a couple of seconds, the conditions change that cut that safe speed in half or by two thirds. Wind is a big cause of this particularly in western michigan as are county plowing lines (Oh I must have crossed a county line so this clear, salted highway is no longer salted and is suddenly icy)

I spun out on I-95 in 2 feet of snow in a SENTRA and I was like screw this shiiiiitt and powered up an UNPLOWED exit barely getting up the hill and I passed apparently a 4x4 XTERRA who was upside down.

So I think I did okay.

The relief of seeing home when I decided I couldn't make it to work made me stop trying so hard and I got stuck on my own street 500feet from my house. Nailed it!

 

[shortylickens]

122

My moms friend was one of them.

 

[unokitty]

When I lived in St. Joe Michigan, I used to take 94 to Kalamazoo fairly regularly.

Even though I learned to drive in Chicago, winter conditions in that part of Michigan can be challenging.

Before I move there, I knew that St. Joe had lake effect snow. Though, I didn't realize that that meant that the sun went away at Thanksgiving and didn't come out until Easter.

When we had 'white outs' they used to close Heathkit/Zenith where I worked. They would string ropes from the doors to the parking lot since once you went out, you might not be able to find your way back...

The old timers told me when visibility got bad on 94, I should keep my drivers side window rolled down a little bit...

When they have the multicar pile ups on 94, you can hear the cars crashing before you can see them they said...

Hope Shorty's mom's friend is okay...

Uno

 

[bbhaag]

WOW that had me shaking..

Same here. From the :54 mark on you can hear the horns blaring and people screaming and then the little girl starts screaming daddy....wow. Pretty intense video.